


Suspension of Disbelief

by PetrichorPerfume



Series: Rainbow Marbles [59]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Bagels, Beaches, Breakfast in Bed, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute, Dancing, Dating, Demon Dean Winchester, Dubious Consent, Fluff and Angst, Hallucinations, Insecure Sam, Love, Loving Dean, Lucifer Being a Dick, M/M, Massage, Multi, Picnics, Romantic Comedy, Sam Hallucinates, Slow Dancing, Stargazing, Swimming, Tents, Two Endings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-09
Updated: 2014-07-08
Packaged: 2018-02-08 02:00:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1922460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PetrichorPerfume/pseuds/PetrichorPerfume
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The way he’s suspended from the ceiling reminds him of another place and another time. He’d tried to tell Dean that he couldn’t do it, couldn’t be strung up in the dungeon-like room, couldn’t be hung from the ceiling as the demon ran sharp fingers down his spine, across his chest, against his neck. The demon had asked him why, told him that he wouldn’t do it if he could come up with a good enough excuse, but he didn’t have a good excuse because he was pathetic and just because he remembered the way Lucifer had done the exact same thing to him, it didn’t mean he had a good excuse, so he didn’t say anything and Dean put him up anyway. </p><p>He’s seeing red, now, red like Hell, red like blood, red like drawings of the devil in classical art, except that Lucifer was beautiful, blindingly, brilliantly, beautiful and the only thing that was red about him was when he accidentally got Sam’s unworthy blood on his fingers and shoved them into Sam’s mouth with a muttered, “Pathetic.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this prompt by Dani: what would happen if Dean goes too far and pushes Sam into a flashback of his tortures in the Cage, and he calls Dean Lucifer?! . . and Dean has to be humanDean to get Sam back?!
> 
> Warning: Dub-con at the beginning, plus implied torture.
> 
> Please note that this story has two endings. (Sort of.) The first one is more of a non-ending than anything else, and the second one is sort of tragic. The second ending will be posted in a second chapter.

The way he’s suspended from the ceiling reminds him of another place and another time. He’d tried to tell Dean that he couldn’t do it, couldn’t be strung up in the dungeon-like room, couldn’t be hung from the ceiling as the demon ran sharp fingers down his spine, across his chest, against his neck. The demon had asked him _why,_ told him that he wouldn’t do it if he could come up with a good enough excuse, but he didn’t have a good excuse because he was pathetic and just because he remembered the way Lucifer had done the exact same thing to him, it didn’t mean he had a good excuse, so he didn’t say anything and Dean put him up anyway.

 

He’s seeing red, now, red like Hell, red like blood, red like drawings of the devil in classical art, except that Lucifer was _beautiful,_ blindingly, brilliantly, beautiful and the only thing that was red about him was when he accidentally got Sam’s unworthy blood on his fingers and shoved them into Sam’s mouth with a muttered, “Pathetic.”

 

“He doesn’t love you, Sammy,” Lucifer says. He circles Sam and sighs. “He’s been to see me in my Cage. He told me so. He thinks you’re a waste of space.”

 

“No,” he whispers.

 

“You know that I would never lie to you, Sam.”

 

Lucifer walks over to Dean and puts a hand on the demon’s shoulder. Sam tries to warn him, but his throat doesn’t work. He sees Lucifer step into Dean and then shimmer, then he sees Lucifer in Dean’s clothes turning and grinning at him before dragging his fingers down Castiel’s chest, leaving little pinpoint prinks of blood in their wake. Cas moans.

 

“Don’t you dare hurt him,” he shouts. Both Cas and Dean turn to him.

 

“It’s okay, Sam,” Cas says. He doesn’t look unhappy, but Sam’s throat constricts anyway. What if this is all an illusion? What if they’ve been in the Cage the whole time? What if Dean was still alive and human and on Earth while they were in Hell and slowly becoming demons? What if instead of killing Cas, Lucifer had dragged him down into the cage with them?

 

“Cas, no,” he says. Then Lucifer starts to walk towards him. “Oh, God.”

 

Lucifer smirks. “Guess again.”

 

“Please, please don’t. Just go away, please. Leave me alone!”

 

“But we used to have so much fun together, Sam! You used to love how I laid you out and made you feel beautiful.”

 

Sam whimpers at the memory – Lucifer, spreading him out upon an altar and _worshipping_ him, then kicking him to the floor and torturing him for days without rest.

 

“What about that time we convinced Michael to join in? _That_ was great. I am not too proud to admit that he’s almost as good at torture as I am. He learned from the best, after all.”

 

Sam shakes his head. “No.”

 

Then hands are on his face, and when he opens his eyes, he sees Lucifer dressed in Dean’s clothes and Dean’s face and Dean’s hair.

 

“Lucifer, don’t,” he begs. Lucifer figured out a long time ago that everything he does hurts worse when he does it with Dean’s face on. He closes his eyes so he won’t have to see. His head starts spinning.

 

“Sammy, Sammy, look at me,” Dean’s voice says.

 

“You’re not Dean,” he gasps just before the world goes dark.

 

***

 

Sam awakes to the sound of Dean and Castiel arguing over him. Lucifer is sitting astride him, nibbling his neck and murmuring something about how he was the only one who had ever truly loved him.

 

“I thought you made him _forget,_ Cas. What the hell?”

 

“I only took away his insanity. I couldn’t take away his memories. Lucifer sealed them in his mind with Archangel magic.”

 

“Archangel magic? Great. Just great. Whatever. It doesn’t even matter. I’ll just take away his memories myself.”

 

“You can make him forget, Dean. You’re not powerful enough.”

 

“So what could make him forget?”

 

“Only the Archangels were powerful enough to undo Archangel magic.”

 

“Great, we’ll just call one in and have them do it.”

 

Silence. Then, “All the Archangels are dead, Dean.”

 

“Really? ‘Cause Sam said something about one of them being alive a couple of months ago. Now, I _saw_ you kill Raphael, and I watched Lucifer and Michael fall into the Cage. That only leaves G-”

 

“There are seven Archangels. Don’t you _ever_ read the Bible?”

 

“In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m a _demon,_ Cas.”

 

“I’m well aware of your species, Dean.”

 

There’s a pause. “Seven archangels, huh? How does that work and why haven’t the other three ever bothered us?”

 

Cas sighs. “Only four can exist at one time. The other three were dormant. When Gabriel died, the archangel Remiel came into existence.”

 

“And he didn’t try to kill you?”

 

“Remiel’s job was the Watch over the Earth. His very name means Mercy of God. He was not a violent angel.”

 

“Okay, so that’s one Archangel. What happened when Raphael died?”

 

“I prevented another Archangel from forming. Currently, there are only three. Two are still dormant, and will remain as such until Remiel dies.”

 

“So let’s summon Remiel.”

 

“No. Remiel will not interfere. Summoning him would do nothing.”

 

“Then what do we do, Cas?”

 

“I have an idea. How about next time one of us asks you not to do something, you don’t do it?”

 

The sound of a body hitting the wall. “I _own_ you, and I will do as I please. If that bothers you, I’d be more than happy to remind you of your place.”

 

“Please don’t hurt him,” Sam begs. Dean rushes over to him.

 

“You’re awake!” Dean kisses him. “I was so worried about you, Sammy. You’re not seeing him anymore, are you?”

 

Sam looks over to where Lucifer is standing behind Cas, slowly petting the former angel’s hair.

 

“He’s still here.”

 

“You know he’s not real, right?”

 

Sam nods. “I know.”

 

Cas walks up to Sam and sits on the edge of his bed. “I have another idea.”

 

Dean glares at him, but Cas doesn’t back down. “Lucifer is the embodiment of hatred, right? All we need to do is love Sam until he stops seeing him. It’ll work, until the next time his memories are triggered, at which point my previous suggestion still stands.”

 

Dean considers it for a while. He closes his eyes and suddenly the room is filled with bouquets of red Carnations, cloves, forget-me-nots, primroses, and red and purple tulips. A banner stretches across the doorway that read, “To Sam and Castiel.”

 

“The Carnations mean deep love and passion. Clove; undying love. Forget-me-nots; true love. Primrose; eternal love. Red and purple tulips; undying love.”

 

“Dean.” Cas shakes his head, a tiny smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

 

“You thought I was gonna forget you,” Dean says. Cas shrugs. “I would never.”

 

“It’ll never work,” Lucifer says, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorway. “You’re mine now.”

 

“Sam?” Dean shakes his brother. “Sam, you can’t listen to him, all right? Just focus on me and Cas.”

 

Sam nods. “Thank you, M-”

 

“Dean,” Dean corrects.

 

Sam smiles. “Dean.”

 

***

 

 

The first thing they do is visit a massage parlor inside the bunker.

 

“How many rooms does this place have?”

 

“Four hundred and seventy-six,” Dean replies.

 

Sam whistles, and Cas says, “That’s a lot of rooms.”

 

Dean chuckles. “It’s a shit ton of rooms. Now lay down in one of these and let the room work its magic.”

 

Cas gives him a curious look, but obeys nevertheless. Sam hesitates. “He’s... He’s in the tub.”

 

Dean looks between the two empty tubs. “Then get in the one he’s not in.”

 

Sam sighs. He’d wanted to be in the tub next to Cas, but Lucifer was making it impossible. He climbs into the vacant tub and jolts when Lucifer sits on top of him. He closes his eyes and inhales. As he breaths in, he notices the faint scent of lavender permeating the room. It helps him forget about Lucifer for a moment. The devil had been a cinnamon and sage type of person. Lavender is more Castiel’s style. He opens his eyes to look at the former angel, who is carefully examining a screen on the wall of his tub. Sam feels around the edge of his tub until he finds a little button. An interface springs to life and a screen appears that says, ‘WELCOME.’

 

He taps it. ‘PLEASE CHOOSE FROM A PRE-SELECTED SPA EXPERIENCE OR DESIGN YOUR OWN.’ Sam chooses to design his own. The first stage involves choosing from between more than fifty different scents. He chooses Egyptian Musk. The bathtub fills with fragrant water. The second stage asks him to choose a color. It suggests orange, but he frowns and selects a light violet. Two twin jets pump out a lavender stream of liquid and smaller jets throughout the tub swirl and mix the water. The third stage asks him to pick music. He listens closely and can just faintly here the chirping of birds that Cas must have picked. He smiles and selects ‘RAIN SOUNDS’ from the menu. The fourth and last stage asks him to pick a jet pattern. He picks ‘PULSING, MEDIUM’ and leans back to enjoy the sensation of being massaged by the tiny jets of water.

 

“You can’t ignore me forever, Sam,” Lucifer says.

 

“Yes I can,” he mumbles.

 

Lucifer tuts. “You know what happened last time.”

 

He looks up at the feeling of fingers in his hair to see Dean smiling down at him. Lucifer is gone for the moment. “Hi, Sammy.”

 

“Hi, Dean.”

 

Dean laughs. “You’re a cutie too when you want to be. Come join me at the massage chair whenever you’re ready.”

 

Sam swallows. “You really don’t have t-”

 

Dean shushes him with a kiss. “I want to. For both you and Cas.”

 

Sam smiles and lets Dean help him out of the tub and dry him off.

 

“Can I stay here for a while? It’s really comfy.” Cas looks up at them with hooded eyes. His body is shaking from the intensity of the jets and Dean laughs.

 

“Of course. I can’t take care of you while I’m massaging Sam anyway.” He holds up his hands. “I only have two hands.”

 

Sam smiles as he lays facedown on the massage chair. Dean rubs sandalwood oil onto his back and he inhales deeply. Then Dean lays a row of hot stones across his back. Dean starts rubbing his shoulders and he moans.

 

“Good, Sammy?”

 

“Where did you learn to do this?”

 

“Shh. Don’t ask too many questions.”

 

Sam shrugs. He knows that when Dean tells them not to ask about something, it usually has something to do will Hell. “’s nice,” he says.

 

He lets himself drift into a state of deep relaxation. Lucifer comes back once or twice, but with Dean’s hands grounding him, he doesn’t pay the devil much mind.

 

When Dean is done with him, he collapses in a plush armchair in the corner of the room to watch Dean give the same treatment to Cas.

 

“You love him, don’t you?” Lucifer asks from his perch on the arm of the chair.

 

Sam ignores him.

 

“You know they could never love an abomination like you,” Lucifer continues. “But I can. I understand, Sam. You and me were meant to be. You could call it... A match made in Hell.”

 

Sam doesn’t dignify that with a response, instead choosing to focus on the way Dean’s strong hands roam over Castiel’s smooth body. It’s mesmerizing, and for a while, it’s enough to make him forget.

 

***

 

They arrive in Barbuda just before sunset. Cas stumbles a bit at the sudden instability beneath his feet, but Sam catches him before he falls.

 

They both look up at the same time and let out simultaneous gasps of wonder. The sands are the sweetest, softest rose color and the cerulean waters are crystal clear. There are lines of palm trees at the edges of the beach and Cas leaps behind Sam with a shriek when he sees them.

 

“Did you see a monster, Cas?” He laughs. It’s been enough time that he can joke about his former profession.

 

“Those trees! They’re the ones that attack people by throwing projectiles at them in the comics!”

 

Sam nearly falls over laughing. “Cas, they’re palm trees. They don’t attack people.”

 

Cas straightens up and tries to recover what’s left of his dignity. “Oh.”

 

Dean grabs both of their hands and starts to pull them towards the water. They laugh as they splash into the sea and marvel at the way they can see to the very bottom even fifty meters from the shore. Dean holds Sam while Sam holds Cas and they watch the sun set over the horizon together. “Is he gone yet?” Dean asks in the darkening twilight.

 

Sam glances over to where Lucifer is acting like a dolphin a few meters away. “Not yet.” Lucifer sticks out his forked tongue. “But he will be.”

 

***

 

The blankets and the sheets are wonderfully warm when they slip into bed. Sam sighs in contentment as he feels Dean embrace him on one side and Cas snuggle into him on the other.

 

“I don’t ever want this to end,” Cas admits just as Sam is falling asleep.

 

“Me neither,” Sam says.

 

Dean doesn’t comment, but Lucifer does. “What makes you think this is real to begin with?”

 

***

 

Dean brings them breakfast in bed the next morning – bacon and eggs and cottage cheese and Greek yoghurt and pineapples and strawberries and coffee and little vats of flavored cream.

 

Lucifer rots all the food, and Sam grimaces as he watches Cas shove a coffee-dipped piece of toast topped with bacon, eggs, cheese, yoghurt, and cream into his mouth – a combination that would be disgusting without the maggots crawling all over his food.

 

“What?” Cas asks, drawing the morsel away from his mouth before shrugging and deciding he was too hungry to care what Sam’s look meant.

 

“Nothing,” Sam says. When he looks back to the tray, the food is pristine once more. Dean eats most of the bacon, but decides to share a Lady and the Tramp style bacon-kiss with each of them with the last two pieces.

 

Cas pulls away before their lips meet, and Dean chases him and kisses him anyway. It’s meaty and greasy, but it’s love, so neither of them mind.

 

***

 

They watch The Proposal after breakfast, curled up on the couch with mugs of hot chocolate. Castiel’s cup has more marshmallows than chocolate and Dean’s might be spiked with a hint of chocolate liqueur, but no one says anything about each other’s little idiosyncrasies.

 

Cas laughs at inappropriate times and Dean grumbles about not liking romantic comedies, but they all know that he’ll do anything for Cas and Sam, including sitting through an entire movie filled from opening lines to end credits with chick-flick moments.

 

They share their own chick-flick moment after the credits roll, lips meeting in a messy three-way kiss before they fall apart, laughing.

 

***

They have picnic in a park overlooking the Golden Gate for lunch. Cas tries to feed the squirrels and Dean smiles indulgently while Sam watches Lucifer blow little craters into the grass that are gone when he blinks.

 

They have ten different kind of sandwiches, and Sam is impressed. “Where did you learn so much about sandwiches?” He asks.

 

“Don’t ask too many questions,” Lucifer and Dean say in unison.

 

Sam doesn’t ask again, and they finish their lunch to the sounds of birds chirping all around them.

 

***

 

When they return to the bunker, they strip off their clothes and get into pajamas. Castiel’s have little ducks on them and Sam’s are adorned with tiny trucks while Dean is wearing a sensible shirt and sweatpants. They build a nest of pillows in front of the fire and bask in each other’s warmth.

 

“Is he gone yet?” Dean asks in between kisses.

 

_Don’t ask too many questions,_ he wants to say. “Soon.”

 

***

 

Dean takes them on a date for dinner. It’s not a five-star restaurant or a dining experience to be envied or anything fancy. It’s just bagels with cream cheese in a sit-down deli by the sea in Southern California.  Sam has an everything bagel with plain cream cheese while Cas has a banana nut bagel with chocolate chip cream cheese. Dean has a chicken cutlet and bacon sandwich with two halves of a bagel instead of bread.

 

“This is nice,” Sam says. Lucifer is still a nearly constant presence, but the devil has given up trying to talk over Dean and Cas all the time.

 

Dean reaches across the table to take his hand. “Love you,” he mouths.

 

Sam grins. “Love you too.”

 

***

 

Dean fiddles with an ancient radio he found in the basement until he manages to get it to spit out the sounds of some bilingual radio station playing Polish and Japanese love songs.

 

Sam and Dean share the first dance to a slow, intimate song that none of them understand. Then Dean bows out as Sam pulls Cas onto the makeshift dance floor as a faster, hipper beat strums through the air. Dean and Castiel share the third dance of the night to an instrumental piece that forces them to rock together hip-to-hip. They switch off often and only stop when Cas and Sam collapse on the floor after a punishing electro-pop song sung in three different languages.

 

Dean pulls them up. “Come on. I have a surprise for you outside.”

 

***

 

Outside, dark thunderclouds are piling up. “Don’t worry, we’re safe,” Dean assures them.

 

“I don’t wanna get wet,” Cas complains from the doorway.

 

Dean pulls him out into the garden. “You won’t. I put up a transparent shield earlier so we could sleep out here and watch the rain.”

 

Cas is skeptical and doesn’t start to believe Dean until the skies open up and they remain dry. The water falls onto _something_ above them, beading on the glass-like surface and pooling until they no longer have a clear view of the sky. They lay down in individual sleeping bags, watching the little ripples convulse through the water until everything goes still and they see the stars, tiny points of light reflected across the water.

 

“Wow,” Sam says.

 

“Wow,” Cas repeats.

 

Their eyes meet, and so do their hands. They smile.

 

Around midnight, they crawl into the tent Dean set up earlier. There’s a mattress big enough for three waiting for them within, as well as enough blankets to keep them warm throughout the night. There’s a viewing window in the ceiling. Sam falls asleep lulled by Castiel’s soft breathing, Dean’s gentle embrace, and the twinkling of the stars overhead.

 

***

 

Sam wakes up in the middle of the night to the soft sounds of Dean singing. He listens for a while before speaking. “Is that a love song?”

 

Dean smiles and kisses him. “Maybe.” Then after a moment, “Is he gone yet?”

 

Sam tries to smile. He wants to say that if he could have this all the time, he wouldn’t mind dealing with the devil. Instead he says, “Almost.”


	2. Chapter 2

Sam wakes up in his bed the next morning.

 

“And that’s what you’ll never have,” Lucifer says before disappearing in a cloud of smoke and ash.

 

Sam closes his eyes, defeated. “Is he gone?” Dean asks.

 

Sam nods. “For good, this time.” Sam takes a deep breath and tries to find the courage to open his eyes. When he does, Dean is gone. “Was that real?” He whispers.

 

Cas is silent for a moment too long. “What do you want to think, Sam?”

 

Sam turns away. “I don’t know.”

 

Cas presses a gentle kiss atop his forehead. “Ask again when you’re ready.”

 

“Will you tell me the truth?”

 

“I’ll tell you what you need to hear.”

 

Sam is silent for a while before he speaks again. “Tell me now.”

 

Cas studies him for a long moment before replying. He shakes his head just a fraction of an inch. “It was real, Sam.” 


End file.
